Examples of known assembly means which can be used to produce in particular a positively locking and if appropriate a nonpositively locking connection between individual parts of a device are screws, rivets or clamps.
The increasing integration density involved in the development of components and mounting technologies in particular in the field of semiconductor electronics is leading to evermore powerful, smaller and more lightweight modules or corresponding devices. In addition to the high quality demands imposed on the construction of devices of this type, it is also desirable for the device production and assembly to be automated as far as possible for cost reasons. In this context, a product design with increasing miniaturization encounters the problem that the space available for the assembly and connection means for the individual parts of these devices is becoming ever smaller and/or the connection points are becoming ever more difficult to gain access to.
Moreover, statutory regulations mean that the manufacturers of certain devices are often forced to take back old devices and to provide equipment for treating or processing these old devices. Therefore, for cost reasons the devices have to be easy to dismantle.
Since the manufacturers of many devices were not previously obliged to take back old devices, requirements relating to the dismantling of the individual parts of these devices were only a minor factor in product development. In particular the technologies for circuit carriers/circuit mounting are in a state of flux; product developments are increasingly based on the innovative large scale integrated technologies, such as flip chip, ball grid array, all layers interconnected via holes technologies, etc. With new technologies of this type, it is desired to achieve high integration densities. The result of this is that the volume available for the assembly, connecting and joining technology is correspondingly reduced. With conventional connecting technologies, such as screw connections, riveted connections or clamped connections, it is becoming increasingly difficult to construct and assemble or dismantle miniaturized devices of this type.